Jason Thomson relishes the turnaround for Hearts

HAVING sat merely two points off the SPL's relegation place five months ago, Hearts players are now anticipating the emotional high of overhauling Edinburgh rivals Hibernian and qualifying for Europe before the season ends.

Inner-city relations are beginning to intensify ahead of the campaign's final derby in two weeks' time, with the Tynecastle side confident of usurping their Easter Road counterparts to finish above them in the league table.

Contrast that prospect with Hearts' position as recently as November and the magnitude of their steady resurrection becomes clear. After a 2-1 home loss to St Johnstone they sat ninth in the SPL, two points better off than bottom club Falkirk and fully 12 behind Hibernian, who at the time were only two behind Celtic and challenging for second place.

The gap between the Edinburgh clubs reduced to six last weekend as Hearts secured top-six status by defeating Kilmarnock, while their city rivals endured a traumatic 4-1 loss at New Douglas Park. Hibernian have faltered of late, but at Riccarton the feeling is things are on the up.

"I remember talking earlier in the season when we were in that relegation battle," said defender Jason Thomson. "We had to fight to get out of that and we've done well to do so. The new manager has come in and we've kicked on a bit since then. We're in the top six now so hopefully we can finish above Hibs, which would be great for the club.

"There was talk of them splitting the Old Firm when they had that great run. It's come to an end now but overhauling six points is still hard because we only have five games."

Hearts begin their post-split fixtures against Rangers at Ibrox tomorrow before entertaining Motherwell at Tynecastle next weekend. Hibernian face the awkward prospect of today's visit to Celtic, then a home encounter with Rangers before the Edinburgh derby, which now kicks off at 12.30pm on Saturday 1 May.

"A point at Rangers would be a great point, then we have three home games out of the last four and we'd fancy ourselves at home," continued Thomson. "Hibs have some hard games before the derby so we'll see what happens. The top six gave us something to aim for when the gaffer came in. Then we could push for Europe. Hopefully fifth place will be good enough if Dundee United win the cup. Europe is a possibility for us." If Hearts require any additional motivation for tomorrow's assignment, it should come from the fact Rangers could secure the SPL title if they emerge victorious.

"We don't want them to win the league. It's not going to be nice for them to have a title party so we'll go there trying to get the win and stop them winning the title in front of us," said Thomson.

"I think our players will be bouncing. We're professionals and we'd be up for any game but I think it might be a wee bit more because we know if they win they could win the league.

"The point against Dundee United in midweek was probably a good one for them because Tannadice is a hard place to go, but it's still in Rangers' own hands. I think we'll see them win it in the next couple of weeks, but hopefully not tomorrow.

"I think 4-1 probably flattered them last time they played us at Tynecastle, it was individual errors from us so we could have cut out the goals. The first half wasn't too bad but the goal after half-time killed us off. We need to cut out the mistakes, attack more and if we get the first goal it gets the crowd on their backs."

While more than satisfied how the post-split fixtures list turned out for Hearts, Thomson acknowledged the need for change at the top level in Scottish football.

"You want to play the top teams in the top six but, on the other side, a team like St Johnstone, who could maybe get enough points to make Europe, can't actually do that now," he said. "It's good for some teams and bad for others. I think a change would suit the league as a whole.

"We only need to leave Edinburgh once, which is tomorrow. We have three home games and the other away match is the derby. The fixtures probably couldn't have landed any better for us but other teams obviously won't be happy. That's what they need to try and sort out to get everyone happy.

"I think a bigger league with no split would benefit everyone. I don't know too much about it but there are some better teams in the First Division. It would help younger players. I've been out on loan myself in the First Division but teams like Dundee and Inverness (coming up] means boys could go out on loan and still play against top clubs like Hearts, Celtic and Rangers."